This commercial property market presents most agents and property owners with a few challenges. That being said, opportunities always exist for those that work hard and look deep enough for a solution.

When the commercial and retail property market gets tougher there are some rules that should generally be worked through:

Existing tenants are the lifeblood of the income and the cash flow for the property. Those tenants are also likely to be under some pressure in similar ways to the property owner. Flexibility in lease terms and conditions is required to ensure that good tenants stay in the property for the medium term. It is better to have a tenant paying 80% rent than a long term vacancy that pays nothing.

Any anchor tenants will be important to the stability of a property that includes smaller specialty tenants. This is the case in retail property. Special management procedures are required. Work closely with any anchor tenants to ensure that their occupancy remains stable and productive. A successful anchor tenant attracts people to the retail property.

Market rent reviews should be negotiated with a view to tenant stability; that means sensible and flexible rent terms that work for the tenant and the landlord. There is always a compromise situation that can be achieved when it comes to a rent review. If a landlord gives the tenant some leeway or benefit, then the tenant should be asked for some benefit back to the landlord (renovation, longer lease term, exercise of option, etc).

Negotiate any lease options as early as possible to ensure that the existing tenants do not look to move elsewhere. Other landlords will be on the hunt for tenants for their properties.

The maintenance of an existing property should be watched and managed well. There is a fine balance between low maintenance levels that destroy property usage and productivity, versus delayed maintenance that keeps presentation at reasonable levels for tenants and customers. When people and businesses move away from a property due to low levels of maintenance and presentation, it is a hard trend to stop.

Incentives for any new lease will encourage new tenants to a property; they will also help existing tenants to potentially take up a new lease in the same premises that they currently occupy now. It is important to keep a check on existing incentives being offered by other landlords in the same general location. Do not lose your good tenants to another landlord for the sake of a few thousand dollars in rent. The vacancy downtime will cost you a lot more.

When the property market gets slower or tougher, all parties involved in property investment and occupation should cooperate and be open to more flexible lease terms and conditions. In this way they can spread the property pain and maintain a reasonable cash flow in slower times.

Most of us spend a large part of our work day going from business meeting to another without bothering to assess if we are actually gaining anything out of them. Is there a way to make business meetings more productive?

In order to make the most out of a business meeting you need to improve the productivity of each such meeting. Every meeting should extract the maximum possible for the duration that it lasts. Do not try to make a meeting cover everything under the sun. Instead, try to make sure that the items on the agenda for the particular meeting are covered effectively. At the end of the meeting, the participants should leave knowing the tasks that they need to accomplish.

Here are a few more tips to get the most of out your business meetings.

Business meetings should never be held on an ad hoc basis. You should prepare for a meeting in advance. Start by listing the objectives of the meeting. These objectives need to be clear, specific and measurable. These will help you check if you have covered the meeting goals. You will also waste less time trying to get to the point. List out the expectations or results that you expect from the meeting. During the course of the meeting, encourage the other participants to contribute with their ideas and opinions so that you have their buy-in. The more involved people are, the quicker you will be able to see results. Focus on the bigger issues at hand and do not let tertiary issues take over the meeting. Allow the tone of the meeting to be casual but do not let that make the participants treat the meeting as being frivolous. Leave the jokes for later.

Do not invite people to business meetings unless their presence is required. Just invite those who can actually contribute to the agenda of the meeting. This avoids wasting time for those people who are not really required. Business meetings should be held in a pleasant environment that makes the participants feel relaxed and comfortable. If required, you could rent out an office or conference venue for the meeting so that people have the opportunity to unwind.

Although you have prepared the points that need to be made do not be in a hurry to get to them immediately. Set a steady pace for the meeting and start by making everyone feel comfortable. The tempo should neither be too slow nor too fast.

In commercial real estate brokerage the prospecting letter process really works. To be successful at it you need to plan the process and control your actions as you progress.

Why will the ‘letter’ process help your prospecting efforts today? Well, it’s because the letters are less inclined to be ‘binned’; that is of course if you plan them correctly and follow the rules.

Here are some facts in comparing letters to emails:

Prospecting emails are not very successful at all. Most of the people you send them to will delete the communication quickly. As a by-product of the process you must have their approval to communicate in that way, otherwise you will be breaking the laws on ‘spam’.

A letter is very professional as long as you do not ‘overdo it’. In commercial real estate the best letter is compiled on one single page. The contents should be contained in no more than 4 paragraphs. Sign the letter personally in blue ink. Ensure that your signature is legible and professional (don’t sign in a ‘scrawl’ as it sends the wrong message).

Create the correspondence to introduce your upcoming telephone call. Make the call a few days after the letter has been received. The prospect will be expecting your call and will be more inclined to take it.

Always put your business card in the envelope. Don’t put anything else in a prospecting letter. The object is to sell yourself and your upcoming telephone call. Don’t confuse the message with bulky brochures on other issues and property matters. Focus on the one thing that is important, and that is your upcoming telephone call.

Design the letter for the person you are writing to. In other words you should have separate letters covering sales, leasing, property management, and retail. Get away from the generic approach and be specific to a part of the industry. Sell your upcoming telephone call on that basis.

Get a reference book on ‘words that sell’ or ‘phrases that sell’. Add a few words from the books into your letter to increase readability.

Every good prospecting letter should have a great headline. You want the person to read the message. Perhaps the headline you use could reflect local property activity or changes. Understand the concerns of the market and match the letter to the focus of investors, property owners, or tenants as the case may be.

The letters should be sent every 60 to 90 days. As part of that process, follow-up as many of the letters that you can. It directly follows that you should not send out too many at once and thereby create a situation where you cannot make the calls.

This is a system of prospecting. The letters are part of the bigger picture. They do not replace cold calling, but they add to the momentum that you would have in other prospecting processes. Start using the system as a boost to your market share.